Chapter 36 (2/2): Bully, beast! She’s still sick

Bad man!

Taking advantage of her illness to bully her…

She struggled, biting his tongue tip.

He groaned, and a large hand pressed down.

With a sharp sound of pain, she pinched him hard.

Fortunately, he stopped, wrapped her by his side, and fixed the disheveled clothes.

“Still too small…” he muttered.

“You think I’m too small?”

Youran quickly sat up.

“If you think so, don’t touch me…”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Shameless beast!”

“Taking advantage of the weak!”

“You’re a dog!”

Pei Huaijin, a man of great talent and vast learning, was left speechless, unable to retort.

Youran felt somewhat relieved and, pulling the covers over herself, turned her back to him and sulked.

“Where’s Pei Huaijin?”

She set down her ginger soup and ate a small piece of bread bit by bit to avoid touching her sore lips.

“He left early this morning.”

“Oh.”

He must be too embarrassed to face her.

After finishing breakfast and calming down, she had Danruo do her hair, then went to Ci You Courtyard.

She arrived early, before the stewards came.

Just as she intended to find her sister in the main hall, she heard someone calling.

“Hey, Shen Youran!”

Youran looked toward the voice, snapping, “What do you want calling me ‘eldest sister-in-law’?”

“Weren’t you sick? Already feeling better?”

“It’s because of you that I got sick!”

Youran squinted, spotting him leaning on the study window far away.

Calling loudly back and forth was tiring, so she started to walk toward him, but he stopped her.

“Don’t come over…”

“What, afraid I’ll hit you?”

“No, your sister told me not to let you get too close.”

He had already promised Shen Yunshu not to bother Youran anymore.

But today, he wanted to properly apologize and so called out to her.

“What a coincidence, your eldest brother also won’t let me get close to you.”

Youran stopped after a few steps, the distance between them neither too far nor too near, so they could hear each other without shouting.

“About yesterday, I’m sorry,” Pei Huaian rarely apologized and looked awkward.

“I prepared an apology gift for you. I’ll have Tinglan bring it later.”

“What is it?”

“A few days ago, my father sent two Hechang cloaks for me and your sister to wear this winter. I’m not afraid of the cold and don’t like wearing such things, so I’ll have Tinglan give you mine later. You can have it tailored to fit…”

Hechang cloaks were fine items, surely top quality sent by Pei Sanshu.

“Well, it seems you are sincere in your apology. I forgive you for yesterday.”

“My little sister is magnanimous—a heart big enough to hold a prime minister’s boat…”

“Sister?”

Youran corrected him, “I’m your eldest sister-in-law!”

Pei Huaian grinned: “I’m still your brother-in-law!”

“You have to call me sister-in-law!”

“Then you call me brother-in-law first, let’s hear it…”

“You’re not my brother-in-law! You and my sister…” She mouthed the words silently: “Sleep in separate beds.”

She had discovered this the day she went to her sister’s bedroom to change clothes.

Pei Huaian was stunned.

Remembering that he and Shen Yunshu not only slept separately but had already signed a divorce agreement, he immediately lost confidence.

He closed the window and ignored her.

Though teasing him, Youran secretly admired how he and her sister were willing to give each other time to accept one another, cultivating their relationship slowly—unlike Pei Huaijin, who moved into her bedroom the day after the marriage.

At first, they slept separated by a quilt, but soon he pulled her into his bedding and then held her every night, causing her to…

Causing her to get used to sleeping with his arm as a pillow, and last night, when they quarreled and she refused to lean back on him, she even slept poorly.

After spending over an hour in the morning helping her sister with household affairs, Youran had learned a bit by observing.

“Don’t come tomorrow,” Shen Yunshu scolded her helplessly but tenderly.

When she arrived, she wanted to send Youran away, but she refused.

“Illness comes like a mountain falling and goes like drawn silk. You had such a high fever yesterday; how could you recover so quickly?”

Youran took her sister’s hand and placed it on her forehead.

“I really am better. Not uncomfortable at all.”

The palm felt warm but cool against her forehead, though a faint trace of illness still lingered on her face.

“Then you should go home and take your medicine properly. Come back when you’re fully recovered.”

“Okay.”

Tinglan delivered the Hechang cloak.

Knowing it was Pei Huaian’s apology gift, Yunshu said nothing.

Youran took the cloak home and gave it to Qinghe.

Qinghe was skilled in needlework.

After measuring and marking, she knew how to alter it.

Youran felt fine all afternoon, but by evening, the low fever returned.

Her sleep was restless at night, disturbing Pei Huaijin as well.

The next day she recovered again.

This pattern repeated for three days—well during the day, low fever at night.

Pei Huaijin wanted to ask Xiao Gugu to tutor her but had to postpone due to her recurring illness.

Danruo and Qinghe, her personal maids, naturally worried.

With nothing else to do, they huddled around Youran.

“Young Madam, could your illness really have been caused by fright?”

Youran didn’t believe it.

“I only know that children scared at night cry for no reason. I don’t cry at night. It’s just that my body feels heavy, and I keep having nightmares, sleeping poorly…”

“What do you dream about?”

“Tigers, snakes, and that fish…”

“See! I told you it’s definitely related to that fish!”

Danruo nodded confidently.

“You were frightened once in the kitchen that morning and again at noon by the fish head Qingjian brought back.”

Hearing this, Youran felt suspicious.

In fact, she had been frightened three times that day.

Besides the two Danruo mentioned, once was when Pei Huaian drew a mandarin fish on paper to scare her.

“Could it be that fish’s restless spirit?”

Youran thought but found it unlikely.

“Qingjian killed that fish. If anyone were haunted by the fish’s spirit, it should be him, yet he’s fine.”

“Qingjian is male, with strong yang energy. Perhaps the fish can’t haunt him.”

Youran shivered: “The more we talk about it, the scarier it gets. Maybe I should go pray at the temple.”

“Yes! And get a peace talisman, just in case…”

When Pei Huaijin returned, Youran told him about her plan to burn incense and pray.

He did not object.

“Then we’ll go the day after tomorrow. I have a day off and will accompany you.”

“No need. I want to go tomorrow. It’s the eighth day of the lunar month, and Da Xiangguo Temple is holding a temple fair.”

“Your body isn’t fully recovered. It’s not suitable to go to crowded places.”

Pei Huaijin’s tone was firm.

“We’ll go the day after tomorrow, when it’s quieter.”

Youran pouted unhappily, muttering, “Even Father isn’t as annoying as you…”

Not catching her mumbling clearly, Pei Huaijin guessed it wasn’t pleasant.

Seeing her dark eyes darting about, he suspected she planned to sneak out tomorrow.

“Do you want to eat outside again tomorrow?” he tested her.

“I can have Qingjian stay in the mansion to serve you.”

“No, no. I’ve had enough of outside food lately. I want to eat home-cooked meals tomorrow.”

“Alright…”

He was sure she intended to sneak out.

Meanwhile, Shen Yunshu had grown familiar with managing the household and became more adept, freeing some time to ponder how to deal with Pei Huaian’s “improper thoughts” toward their third sister.

Because he had teased her and caused her to fall ill, she punished him by making him memorize lessons late into the night.

Since that night, he seemed to have grown up overnight.

Before Fuzi arrived in the morning, he would voluntarily go to the study to review.

During lessons, his attitude improved greatly.

After two days of accompanying him, Yunshu deliberately skipped the study sessions twice in the afternoon.

Secretly asking Fuzi afterward if Pei Huaian had slacked off, Fuzi shook his head, saying no, and praised his recent progress.

She thought his change was because of their third sister.

Afterward, she no longer planned to accompany him in study.

After managing the household affairs in the morning, she would spend afternoons reading in her room.

One day, she went out with Tinglan and returned to find Tinglan holding a stack of books, her face flushed.

That evening, Yunshu placed the stack before Pei Huaian and said, “I thought of two ways to help with your recurring dreams…”

Pei Huaian brightened: “Sister Yunshu thought of solutions so quickly? Two even!”

“Seven emotions and six desires are innate to humans. Lust, like the desire for life and death, ears, eyes, mouth, is natural. One cannot escape them by retreating into the monastery. They must be restrained and balanced, like water flow—best to let it flow freely, not block it forcibly, which backfires. It’s better to go with the flow…”

“How to go with the flow?”

“That’s the first way: I’ll arrange for you to take a concubine or have a servant girl as a companion.”

Pei Huaian froze. “You want me to take a concubine?”

“Compared to taking a concubine, I think having a servant girl is better. After all, we boasted to grandmother that you would focus on studying. Now you’re taking a concubine, grandmother might not agree…”

Yunshu’s voice was calm and measured, “But we must agree beforehand that whether it’s a concubine or a servant, you must exercise self-control and not neglect your studies.”

Pei Huaian looked blank and said nothing for a long time, then forced out, “I won’t take a concubine. I don’t want a servant girl either.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like them.”

Yunshu laughed wryly: “You haven’t even chosen one yet, and you say you don’t like them?”

“I just don’t like them.”

He didn’t know why he felt such an inexplicable resistance to taking a concubine or having a servant companion.

Although he had once told Qing Wu he “wanted women,” he never really considered accepting a stranger into his heart.

Yunshu could tell his resistance came from the fact he still cared for their third sister.

It was strange—he had fallen in love at first sight with her at the temple fair, yet before marriage, they had not met again.

After marriage, they had seen each other a few times, but his deep feelings for her were beyond Yunshu’s understanding.

Love is a mysterious thing; although she couldn’t understand, she never doubted his affection.

Fortunately, she anticipated his rejection of the first method and didn’t push it.

She then introduced the second way.

“These are the books I specially bought for you today,” Yunshu said, patting the stack of volumes before him and introducing each: “Yuanyang Secret Manual, Spring Night Secret Erotic Pictures, Jiangnan Summer Scenery Picture, Competing Spring Scroll…”

She picked up the last one and handed it to him.

“Especially this Huaying Jin Zhen, with twenty-four illustrations. The images are simple and vivid, and the text is easy to understand…”

This was the same book their mother had shown them before marriage.

Yunshu and their third sister had read it together.

Naturally, Pei Huaian had seen such books before marriage, which had stirred his blood and parched his tongue.

“Sister Yunshu, why are you giving me this?”

His face flushed deeply, still somewhat embarrassed.

“The first method I told you was ‘better to unblock than to block,’ and the second is ‘better to unblock by learning.’”

“How so?”

“You often have such dreams because deep inside you are curious and eager about these matters. Since that’s the case, it’s better to understand thoroughly. Once you’ve seen and comprehended enough, perhaps you’ll know how to guide and release these desires properly.”

Pei Huaian listened skeptically.

“Sister Yunshu, can this really work?”

Although she spoke convincingly, Yunshu had no experience with such things and couldn’t guarantee success.

“All I know is that’s the reasoning.”

Only she and Qing Wu knew about this.

The method Qing Wu taught him was no longer effective; now he had no choice but to trust her.

“Alright, I’ll give it a try.”

That night, Pei Huaian read two books and went to the chamber three times.

The third time he returned, his knees weak and legs trembling.

On the other side, the Huanghuali bed behind the screen was curtained.

She must have already fallen asleep.

Pei Huaian decided to stop for the night.

If he kept going, he feared he’d be drained dry.

Supporting his soft legs, he returned to the Luohan couch and sighed deeply.

Thinking that after such emptying, sleep would come easily.

But when he closed his eyes, images from the books filled his mind.

A quarter-hour later, he felt the stirring return.

Half an hour later, helpless, he got up and went back to the chamber.

Another quarter-hour later, still unable to release himself, he returned to the bedroom and went straight to Shen Yunshu’s bedside.

“Sister Yunshu, Sister Yunshu…”

Fortunately, Yunshu was a light sleeper.

Hearing his voice faintly, she opened her eyes, turning to see him leaning by the bed, his elegant Rui Feng-shaped eyes fixed on her.

“What is it?”

She sounded tired, lacking energy, and did not get up but rolled over to face him, eyes half-closed.

“Finished reading the books?”

“Two.”

“Thoughts?”

“I want…to do bad things…”

Yunshu was wide awake in an instant